‘Red Flags and Warnings’ Missed in Boston Bombings

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers lauded Boston area law enforcement officials for their response to the Boston Marathon bombing attacks while criticizing federal agencies for failing to probe one of the suspects despite warning signs.

Watertown Police Chief Ed Deveau, Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese and former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis testified at a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing last week on the aftermath of the bombings – one year ago today – that killed three and wounded hundreds more.

Four days after the attack, police officers got into an early morning firefight with bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

“That seemingly quiet overnight shift suddenly turned into a war zone. For the first time in America, police officers were attacked with guns and bombs and it happened on a quiet backstreet in my community,” Deveau said.

Deveau said his officers thought they were pursuing carjacking suspects when the lawmen were attacked with explosives and gunfire.

Pugliese said he heard over the radio that officers were following an alleged carjacked vehicle in the Boston suburb of Watertown. He then decided to drive in that direction to provide any additional assistance the officers might need.

On his way to the area, Pugliese said he heard over the radio that the individuals in the stolen car had fired at police officers. By the time Pugliese arrived at the scene, he heard gunfire and exited his vehicle.

“Within moments, I heard an explosion,” Pugliese said. Authorities later determined that the Tsarnaevs had built homemade explosives, which they threw at police through the shootout.

Pugliese was attempting to physically detain Tamerlan Tsarnaev when Dzhokhar ran over his brother in a car during his escape. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died of his wounds at a hospital, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found several hours later, badly wounded and hiding in a boat.

Several committee members praised Boston’s response to the bombing.

“There’s no doubt that Boston’s handling of the marathon will serve as a model for other cities,” said Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.). This year’s race will be run on April 21.

Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said had it not been for the efforts of the Boston police “our nation could have been further terrorized.”

“If it wasn’t for these heroic acts of bravery, New York City could have been hit again,” he said.

The hearing also focused on the committee’s report on the response to the bombings that condemned federal intelligence agencies for failing to scrutinize the activities of one of the alleged bombers in the months before the attacks.

McCaul said the committee found in its investigation that “red flags and warnings” had been missed and that “systematic problems” led to Tamerlan Tsarnaev falling off the FBI’s radar.

“We found that Tamerlan was on the radar of the FBI and somehow dropped off. We found that Tamerlan traveled to Dagestan, known for its Chechen terrorists,” he said. “We also found that unfortunately customs, FBI, and the [intelligence community] somehow missed it. We now know that a check of his public social media would have shown indicators such as jihadist video postings. His mosque had seen escalating behavior, as well. It likely would have been clear that he was becoming more and more of a threat to the community.”

McCaul said federal agencies should have done a better job in providing information to the Boston police.

“State and local police have a strong role in counter-terrorism. They know the streets better than anybody and they know the local threats. The Boston Police Department should have been given more information throughout the entire process. They must know the terror threats in their own backyards. This process in my judgment has to change,” he said.

McCaul said that both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have already begun implementing the recommendations in the committee’s report.

Some lawmakers raised concerns that federal officials held back important information, including a day’s delay in the public release of photos of the bombing suspects.

New York Rep. Peter King (R) said NYC officials were upset to learn several days after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured that Times Square had been a target.

There were no Heroics in Boston except among the Private Citizens who jumped into action to render aid. Otherwise, it was nothing but a Giant Clusterf*ck of Epic Proportions…

Not only did they miss the call (from Russian Intelligence no less) regarding the known character of these guys, they “missed the boat” too, literally and figuratively…

If the Russians calling the freaking FBI saying “yeah, couple of whack-jobs named “Tsarnoff”, that’s T-S-A-R-N…..are you writing this down?” wasn’t enough to motivate them to take a peek at the red-hot trail of intent these two were leaving all over Facebook and You Tube for months…..

What makes you think the overwhelming pile of “data” they collect on us every second of the day, can ever be “digested” and analyzed quickly enough in real time to prevent something? Yea, THAT’S a plausible theory.

Our safety is not on their agenda. The Surveillance was never intended to protect us. Never was, never will be.The Regime exists to serve itself.

So in other words. The DHS failed in the only mission they were created for. To prevent another terrorist attack on American soil after 9/11. And they failed for the same reason. They were too politically correct to take the situation seriously. So they are no improvement over the pre 9/11 situation. Defund and disband the DHS.

The FBI knew that 19 middle eastern men were training to fly without learning to land in the summer of 2001. The FBI did nothingThe FBI knew of a psychiatrist at Ft Hood who was preaching radical Islam. The FBI did nothingThe FBI knew of the Tsarnaev brothers and did nothing. What does the FBI do?

What about the red flag in Florida... Ibragim Todashev an associate of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother Boston bomber suspected in the Waltham murders by federal authorities (a cold case local authorities before the bombings.) Shot and killed by the FBI during interrogation in his Orlando home -…Todashev's live-in girlfriend, Tatiana Gruzdeva — was detained by immigration officials and later deported to Russia. Best friend, Khusen Taramov, is barred from reentering the U.S. has said he has been barred by federal authorities from reentering the United States.Where is the truth?

NSA has only been around since 1952, so they are still working out the "bugs", and this would explain why the terrorists fell under the radar, now Obumblecare will probably take only 61 years to sort out. Folks, please give these hard working leaches some consideration!

Yeah, it went swell. Innocent people got car jacked and if it weren't for a sharp eyed civilian, the other terrorist might not have been found. There was one good thing that happened though. A terrorist got ran over by his other terrorist pal. Oh, and don't forget, our pals in Russia warned us about the terrorist ringleader.

There were no Heroics in Boston except among the Private Citizens who jumped into action to render aid. Otherwise, it was nothing but a Giant Clusterf*ck of Epic Proportions…

Not only did they miss the call (from Russian Intelligence no less) regarding the known character of these guys, they “missed the boat” too, literally and figuratively…

If the Russians calling the freaking FBI saying “yeah, couple of whack-jobs named “Tsarnoff”, that’s T-S-A-R-N…..are you writing this down?” wasn’t enough to motivate them to take a peek at the red-hot trail of intent these two were leaving all over Facebook and You Tube for months…..

What makes you think the overwhelming pile of “data” they collect on us every second of the day, can ever be “digested” and analyzed quickly enough in real time to prevent something? Yea, THAT’S a plausible theory.

Our safety is not on their agenda. The Surveillance was never intended to protect us. Never was, never will be.The Regime exists to serve itself.

So in other words. The DHS failed in the only mission they were created for. To prevent another terrorist attack on American soil after 9/11. And they failed for the same reason. They were too politically correct to take the situation seriously. So they are no improvement over the pre 9/11 situation. Defund and disband the DHS.